Div.3 Chapter 21

Beginning Tide in Taekwondo

“I intended to train in Taekwondo but I have stopped.”

“Taekwondo can never be strong in a confused life.”

What is the tide that results from the unison of Haneul (Heaven) and Saram (Man)? Tide is to release the flow of the spirit that results from the accumulation of the world’s changes, and the world’s changes include the relationship between you and your opponent, you and the world, and your opponent and the world. Therefore, tide is the general flow of movement to which both you and your opponent belong. As a Taekwondo-Een you should be capable of adjusting your tide and its radiation at will. Rather than resisting your opponent’s tide you should move with it in order to interrupt its flow.

Then what should the tide of Taekwondo be like? Having the optimum tide of Taekwondo may be likened to possessing the spirit to overwhelm a mighty mountain once you begin, while sinking yourself deep beneath the sea once hidden. Your tide should be capable of casting aside a boulder when in a hurry, and embracing everything like a warm spring wind when tender. It should be like a sharp knife when fierce, and like virgin wool when soft. When firm, it should remain steadfast like the earth, while when flexible it should follow every turn like a young leaf. All of these states can be attained when you are united with nature without resistance. You can control all of them in accordance to its tempo and your breath.

Regarding tide in the relationship between you and your opponent, it should be like the following: when your opponent flows in a coercive tide you must not resist it but wait in tenderness until he is exhausted; when he flows with a flexible and soft tide, you must scatter its core with a sharp attack; when he awaits you, you must overwhelm him before he is prepared; when he flows with a sharp tide then, avoiding his attack, you must drag and delay to weaken it and make it dull. However, it is best to keep yourself always ready with your arranged tide so that whenever you face him you can stop and beat out his tide before it begins. It is best to unify your tide and his one, riding the whole so that you may act at will.

The right tide in Taekwondo cannot be attained by a simple desire to suddenly begin your tide’s flow. Its potential will be realized only when you have trained your mind and body in all aspects of your life. Therefore, one must understand that one’s potential tide in Taekwondo is no different from one’s own habitual person. No one can surpass the better tide with a deceptive tide; and no tide of those who do not obey the changes of nature can await an opponent’s exhaustion. The Taekwondo-Een who realizes all this never stops training towards his own self-completion.